Medichecks results

[Churchy12]

After getting some great advice on here I went away and got some private blood tests, these are the results. It recommends taking some vitamin D and it also recommends upping my dose of Thyroxine I actually don’t take Thyroxine through anxiety of taking tablets but I was told at my last GP visit to chuck the Thyroxine tablets because it was all in my head basically psychological and she made me feel like I was going mad. From the results is there anything other than Vit D I could take is there any other levels in the results that could do with boosting and what is best to take and finally what do I do with regards about taking Thyroxine as the report on the tests recommends upping my dose ...I’m nervous to go to the doctors again as I was so upset last time.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

It's definitely not all in your head, how cruel of your GP to say that. From now on take someone with you to your GP appointments, someone supportive and who can speak on your behalf if necessary. It's amazing the difference in doctor's attitude when there is a witness.

You must find a way of overcoming your anxiety about taking tablets. You are hypothyroid and need hormone replacement, there is no alternative. You also need some supplements so will need to take those too.

The aim of a treated hypo patient generally is for TSH to be 1 or below or wherever it needs to be for FT4 and FT3 to be in the upper part of their range. Depending how long you haven't been taking your Levo, you may need to restart at 50mcg. You then need to retest after 6 weeks and increase dose by 25mcg, retest after another 6 weeks and increase again if necessary, etc.

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Your high antibodies confirm autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto's which is where antibodies attack the thyroid and gradually destroy it. Hashi's isn't treated, it's the resulting hypothyroidism that is. You can help reduce your antibodies by adopting a strict gluten free diet and supplementing with selenium l-selenomethionine 200mcg daily.

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B12 may be a little low. Active B12 below 70 really warrants further investigation. Do you have any signs of B12 deficiency

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

You might need testing for pernicious anaemia.

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You Folate is extremely low in range. Your GP could prescribe folic acid but if not you should buy a decent B Complex such as Thorne Basic B which contains 400mcg methylfolate which will help raise your Folate level. Eating plenty of leafy greens can help. Do not start folic acid or B Complex until further investigation of low B12 has been done and B12 injections started (if necessary).

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Vit D is recommended to be 100-150nmol/L according to the Vit D Council. You should supplement with D3 and it's important cofactors Vit K2-mk7 and magnesium.

As you have Hashi's the best form of D3 will be an oral spray as it bypasses the stomach for best absorption. BetterYou do a 3000iu spray, they also do a combined D3/K2 which is probably best for you. You should buy the 3000iu spray and take 6000iu daily for 8 weeks then reduce to 3000iu daily and retest 3 months after starting.

Choose the best form of magnesium for you naturalnews.com/046401_magn... and some come in powder form so you can make a drink with it.

D3 should be taken 4 hours away from thyroid meds, magnesium is calming so should be taken in the evening, 4 hours away from thyroid meds.

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Ferritin needs to be at least 70 for thyroid hormone to work. Eating liver once week or so will raise your level, I've seen it said that for females 100-130 is best.

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Some information about Hashi's

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

hypothyroidmom.com/hashimot...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

[Churchy12]

Thank you so much for your help.... does Medichecks to a blood test for B12 deficiency? I will probably go through them again, I am going to write down everything from your post and go and buy all of the recommended products. I am strangely not scared of taking vitamins just the Thyroxine I have a complete mental block with medication I think it stems for a very bad reaction to penicillin when I was younger now I think all medication is going to cause me an allergic reaction so silly I know... I am having CBT to try and get over the anxiety of taking the pills, my worry now is if I start taking Thyroxine and I do have some boxes here at home what if when I go back to the doctor they won’t re-prescribed it as they told me to throw it away last time and that it was just psychological I don’t want to start feeling better for them to say we won’t give it to you.

[greygoose in reply to Churchy12]

Levo is not 'medication' as such. It is a hormone supplement - pretty much like vit D3, which is also a hormone. So, if you can take vit D, there's no reason why you can't take levo. It doesn't change anything in your body, it just replaces what your body can no-longer make for itself - like vit D3.

SeasideSusie probably won't see your reply because you didn't click on the green reply button under her response, but I've just notified her for you.

Your doctor is an evil cow, is there anyone else you can see? You really do need to take levo because not only are you very hypo, but you have Hashi's, so it's not going to go away by itself, it's going to get worse. Go back and tell her that she is 100% wrong about it being in your head, because you have high antibodies and antibodies don't lie! You have Autoimmune Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease where the body's immune system slowly destroys the thyroid gland until you are wholely dependant on thyroid hormone replacement. And you can quote me on that, because she doesn't seem to have a clue!

[Churchy12 in reply to greygoose]

Thank you for passing my message on and thank you for all you help and advice, i will get there in the end hopefully.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Churchy12]

Have you checked the link I gave to signs and symptoms of B12 deficiency? If you have any then write them down, that will be enough for your GP to investigate further.

As for your Active B12 result - see

viapath.co.uk/our-tests/act...

Which says:

"between 25-70 referred for MMA"

So as your result is 49.6 (25.1-165) then you should ask for the MMA test which is Methylmalonic Acid and this test can help detect early and/or mild vitamin B12 deficiency.

And as Greygoose has said, stop thinking of Levo as medication, it is a hormone replacement because you can't produce enough thyroid hormone yourself. Think of it like a diabetic needing insulin.

[Churchy12 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you, I did check the list of symptoms and I do have a lot of them the main one being the tinnitus it started in the middle of the night about 4 months ago and scared me so much I had a full blown panic attack because I didn’t know what was happening to me, definitely brain fog and tiredness and headaches quite a lot I think I was taking painkillers everyday for a couple of months at one point. I am going to try really hard to take the Thyroxine, what should I do if they refuse to give it to me should I take my private test results and show them.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Churchy12]

If they refuse to give you what? Further testing for B12 deficiency? If so see a different doctor. Take all your evidence - list of symptoms, back up with articles like the one I linked to, say your symptoms are caused by something and that you think they may be linked to B12 deficiency so will they please test to either confirm or rule it out.

Have a good read through the B12 Deficiency website, arm yourself with knowledge so that you can state your case.

[Churchy12 in reply to SeasideSusie]

The last time I went to the doctor they told me to throw away the Thyroxine I had here at home, she said to carry on with the CBT ( the whole point of the CBT was to overcome anxiety of taking the Thyroxine plus other things) as my symptoms were psychological so what I’m thinking is I could start taking the the Thyroxine I have but what if I then go back and they say no we are not prescribing you any Thyroxine the doctor that said this was a doctor I had gone to see for a second opinion not my own GP. I’m worried that because they’ve put my symptoms down to being psychological they then won’t give me more Thyroxine when I run out.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Churchy12]

You have autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto's) as confirmed by your over range antibody results. Your TSH is over range, your FT4 is very low in range. You need Levo.

You might want to suggest to your doctor that those raised antibodies aren't going to disappear with CBT.

Information for your GP if he is unwilling to re-prescribe Levo:

From thyroiduk.org/tuk/about_the... > Guidelines for the Use of thyroid Function Tests

The 'UK Guidelines for the Use of Thyroid Function Tests' state that, "There is no evidence to support the benefit of routine early treatment with thyroxine in non-pregnant patients with a serum TSH above the reference range but <10mU/L (II,B). Physicians may wish to consider the suitability of a therapeutic trial of thyroxine on an individual patient basis." If your TSH is above the range but less than 10, discuss a therapeutic trial of thyroxine with your doctor.

Subclinical hypothyroidism (where there are elevated TSH levels, but normal FT4 levels, possibly with symptoms) has been found in approximately 4% to 8% of the general population but in approximately 15% to 18% of women over 60 years of age.

Subclinical hypothyroidism can progress to overt hypothyroidism (full hypothyroidism with symptoms) especially if there are thyroid antibodies present.

If thyroid antibodies are found, then you may have Hashimoto's disease. If there are thyroid antibodies but the other thyroid tests are normal, there is evidence that treatment will stop full blown hypothyroidism from occurring.

Dr A Toft, consultant physician and endocrinologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, has recently written in Pulse Magazine, "The combination of a normal serum T4 and raised serum TSH is known as subclinical hypothyroidism. If measured, serum T3 will also be normal. Repeat the thyroid function tests in two or three months in case the abnormality represents a resolving thyroiditis.2 But if it persists then antibodies to thyroid peroxidase should be measured.

If these are positive – indicative of underlying autoimmune thyroid disease – the patient should be considered to have the mildest form of hypothyroidism.

In the absence of symptoms some would simply recommend annual thyroid function tests until serum TSH is over 10mU/l or symptoms such as tiredness and weight gain develop. But a more pragmatic approach is to recognise that the thyroid failure is likely to become worse and try to nip things in the bud rather than risk loss to follow-up."

That information is from an article by Dr Toft published in Pulse Magazine (a magazine for doctors) and you can obtain a copy from Dionne at [e-mail] I believe it is question 2 where it is mentioned.

[Churchy12 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you so much for all your help today 😘